


He Smiles Like A Summer's Day

by casanovica



Series: High School AU [1]
Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Barrette!Frank, First Kiss, Fluff, High School, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, because I cannot get them out of my head, chubby!Gerard, they're babies and they're sweet and shy and just want to be loved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:27:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24706819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/casanovica/pseuds/casanovica
Summary: A short, sweet tale of Gerard and Frank's first date.
Relationships: Frank Iero/Gerard Way
Series: High School AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1826887
Comments: 10
Kudos: 75





	He Smiles Like A Summer's Day

Frank waits at Ms. Albertson’s door for approximately ten minutes before walking into the classroom. He paces back and forth down the hallway, goes into the bathroom and fumbles with his hair a bit before standing in front of the closed door yet again. He lets his hand hover over the knob, letting his mind go through a million different scenarios in his head before he actually touches it. In the end, he pulls it back, defeated, and decides to head back toward his locker on the opposite end of the art building, chickening out and vowing to try again next week.

He’s just about to turn and walk away when he’s startled by the door swinging open and a face in front of him. 

It’s Gerard Way. Frank sits by his brother Mikey in English and sees the two hanging out under the tree by the orchestra room after school sometimes. Mikey is cool. He has long hair and wears t-shirts of bands that Frank likes and is always falling asleep during class. 

Gerard is _cooler_ , though, Frank realizes as he stands frozen in front of him, mouth agape and silent. Gerard is a junior. He’s wearing a dark plaid overshirt and a Night of the Living Dead tee underneath. That’s one of Frank’s favorite movies. The top of his floppy hair is dyed candy red, which is super punk rock, if you ask Frank. He is kind of captivating and has a mellow glow about him. Frank wants to be his best friend.

He’s also looking very confused as to why Frank is standing in front of the exit to the classroom, not moving or saying anything.

Frank realizes that he should probably say something. That, or run away and never come back and try to forget this awkward interaction ever happened. Probably get a wig and change his name, too. Just to be safe. Still, curiosity outweighs his flight response and he doesn’t run in the end. 

“Hi.” Frank squeaks out, finally.

“Hey. Are you here for the LGBT club meeting?” Gerard asks, stepping out of the way for Frank to go inside. “I didn’t think anyone was coming, so I was about to go home.”

“I, uh, umm, uh,” Frank stutters out, not really sure how to respond. 

He’s not exactly _out_ or really sure if he even wants to be. It was only the summer before starting high school that he realized that yes, he does like boys, and no, he doesn’t really like girls like he thought he did, and no, he doesn’t care what the Catholic church has to say about it either. Either way, he hasn’t said it _out loud_. It's been a secret he's been keeping that's been weighing on him, leaving him a tiny bit afraid to let it out.

“Yes.” He finally says, walking past Gerard into the empty art room. “I am.” 

“Cool.” Gerard says, following him in and shutting the door behind him. “I’m Gerard, by the way.”

“I’m Frank Iero, freshman. I just started here a few weeks ago.”

Frank has never been into the art room. He passes by it sometimes on his way to homeroom. When he has time, he walks by it extra slow and peeks in. The other week they were learning pottery and there were a bunch of misshapen pots and dishes on the shelf. He wonders if any of them belonged to Gerard. He’d make a good pot, sturdy one, maybe even for a little cactus or something. Frank isn’t good at art. He’s not too good at a lot of things, like not injuring himself or talking to pretty boys. 

“So, it’s usually just me and this girl named Kelly at the meetings. Sometimes Ms. Albertson will pop in and ask if we need something, but we usually just turn on the radio and draw, honestly. Might not be the LGBT club of your dreams, but it’s pretty chill.” Gerard laughs, leaning against one of the drawing tables. 

Frank nods, taking a seat at the bench on the other side of Gerard. “You draw? Anything cool?”

Gerard shrugs. “I like making comics.”

Frank’s eyes light up. “I love comics! Can I see?”

“Sure.” Says Gerard, pulling a few pages of sketches out from his binder. 

He puts the sketch in front of Frank, while he waits nervously for his reaction. Gerard doesn’t show many people his art, except for Mikey and Toro. Mikey tells him his drawings are badass, but he doesn’t really trust his opinion because he’s his brother. He’s a bit biased. So, he watches Frank’s reaction intensely, hoping he doesn’t say it’s shit and the worst thing he ever saw and stomps out of the room. 

He’s really, really hoping he says he likes it. Not because he wants validation, but because Gerard has to admit, Frank is pretty gorgeous. He’s small for his age, but makes up for it with big, shiny hazel eyes and a shy smile. He’s got soft brown hair hanging over half his face, the other half tied back in a pink barrette. He wonders if the barrette is a statement. Like he’s saying fuck gender, I’ll wear a pink barrette in my hair if I want to. Or, maybe it’s just a practical thing, to keep his hair out of his face. Maybe he didn't even think about it. Maybe he didn’t take a second out of his day to think about how pretty it made him look. Maybe he didn’t even know. 

Gerard watches Frank’s expression change as his eyes pass from panel to panel. He’s expressive in the best way, his face open and emotions out on display for everyone to see. He's almost positive his eyes twinkle as he looks at a page he particularly enjoys. He wonders how he never noticed the boy before. 

“This is rad!” Frank exclaims after he finishes the few pages Gerard had shown him. “The art style is so cool and the colors pop. Plus, Moody is a badass! Are you gonna draw more?”

Gerard blushes at the praise, clearly not used to it. The panels aren’t even finished, and the story goes hardly anywhere. It’s nothing even close to impressive. 

“I think so,” he replies, “I don’t think it’s that good, though.”

Frank shrugs, turning away from Gerard to look out the window. “I like it.”

They sit in silence for a few minutes, both unsure of what to say next. Gerard looks around the art room that is pretty much his second home, occasionally stealing a glance at Frank when he thinks the freshman isn’t looking. Frank listens to the students outside yelling to their friends and milling about. He picks at his fingernails and threads spilling from the seams in his jeans. He wants to look up at Gerard, but he knows he’ll blush beet red if he does. Gerard’s a bit on the chubbier side and has bubblegum cheeks, but Frank finds that endearing. He’d be soft to hug. Frank imagines that Gerard would be a good hugger. He bets he’d let Frank burrow into his side and rest his head on his chest. Just thinking about it makes him feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Gerard is the one to eventually break the silence, not wanting to make Frank feel unwelcome by ignoring him.

“So, just curious, are you here as an ally or,” He trails off, implying but not explicitly saying the word out loud. It's kind, him giving Frank the opportunity to say as much or as little as he'd like to.

Frank turns to face him once more, eyes wide as ever. “No. I, uh.” He smiles sweetly as he tucks his bangs behind his ear. “I’m gay.”

Gerard nods his head. “Cool. Me too, if that wasn’t obvious.”

“It’s good to know that there are people who are out at this school. I haven’t really told anybody, but I want to. I don’t want to hide it.” Frank crosses his arms in front of himself protectively. It’s the first time he’s said it out loud to another person. It’s exhilarating and terrifying all at once. 

Gerard remembers being that kid, scared and unsure. He smiles proudly at him. “You told me. That’s huge.”

“I guess.” Frank admits, secretly proud of himself for even getting into the room in the first place. The fuzzy feeling in his tummy spreads throughout his body.

“It’s scary, I get it, but you did it. That’s really awesome. It’s a big step, especially for someone so little.” Gerard’s face twitches nervously, not sure if he overstepped with the short joke. He was trying to inject some humor in the conversation. As he watches Frank’s blank face a sinking feeling pools in his gut. He’s said the wrong thing and fucked it up, hasn’t he?

Suddenly, Frank bursts out laughing. Like, it genuinely bursts out of him. He practically launches himself out of the chair from the force of it. The joke wasn’t even that funny, but Frank’s red in the face, laughing as if Gerard were a professional comedian. He’s looking at Gerard like he holds the world in his palm. He’s filled with amazement and admiration.

“I’m still waiting on my growth spurt. That’s what my mom tells me. I’ll be making normal sized steps in no time. You’ll see.”

Fondness tints Gerard’s entire demeanor. “I’m sure I will.”

They sit in a calm silence for a bit. Gerard itches for a sketch pad, but he knows what he’d end up drawing. Crooked teeth and a pink barrette. That’d be a bit uncomfy with Frank sitting right by him, so he decides against it. He studies the boy’s face and stores it for later so he can ink it into his favorite drawing paper at home. He suddenly becomes too aware of himself, his body. He awkwardly changes positions, not feeling comfortable just standing there while Frank tries not to stare at him. His eyes flit around the room, not wanting to stare at Frank back and seem creepy. Frank watches Gerard as he looks around the room and out of the window. There are fewer people around the school, with most kids already having left home for the day. It's almost like it's just them there.

Gerard turns to Frank and raises an eyebrow. “I don’t think anyone else is coming. What do you say we blow this popsicle stand and do something fun?”

Frank giggles, hand popping up to hide his snaggly smile. “What kind of fun stuff?”

Gerard digs in his bag, shoving aside gum wrappers and crumpled papers for a bit before finding what he was looking for. “I have ten bucks I stole from Mikey. We could go to 7 Eleven and get some candy?”

Frank nods eagerly, his sweet tooth and heart excited at the proposition. “Sure.”

They make the short walk to the gas station quite quickly. Frank’s hand bumps against Gerard’s once or twice and he has half a mind to take it in his own and see if their fingers interlock perfectly like pieces of a puzzle, but he doesn’t. That would be weird. He stuffs his hands in his pockets and lets Gerard lead the way.

When they get in the store, Gerard tells Frank to pick out whatever he wants, well, as long as it's within reason. So, Frank gets a chocolate dipped ice cream bar from the freezer and a pack of skittles to munch on later. It’s still pretty warm in New Jersey, so he can get away with a cold treat on the walk home. Gerard makes a few laps around the store before picking anything, incredibly indecisive. Eventually, he picks a stick of beef jerky and something from the coke machine.

Gerard scoffs when Frank offers to pay him back for the treats. “Consider it a welcome gift. Your induction to the LGBT club of Belleville High, party of three.”

Frank just blushes and offers to hold the bag.

They’re walking home with their treats, Gerard sipping his cherry and blue raspberry slurpee and Frank taking licks from his ice cream bar, swaying slightly in hopes that his arm might brush Gerard’s. They move in a comfortable silence, happy to satisfy their sugar cravings and be in each other’s presence. 

They decide to walk Gerard home first, since he’s closer. Frank doesn’t know how much further it is until his house, but he doesn’t want Gerard to leave. He likes hanging out with him. He’s funny and good at art and tells Frank nice things. It’s the perfect storm of a crush forming.

“I like your shirt.” Frank blurts, needing to say anything to keep Gerard talking to him.

Gerard looks down and pulls it forward, like he isn’t sure of what shirt he put on this morning. “Oh, yeah. Night of the Living Dead. I love horror movies.”

Frank lights up. “Me too! Dawn of the Dead is my favorite horror movie, but I also like slasher movies, like Friday the 13th or Halloween. Especially Halloween, because that’s my birthday.”

Gerard stops in his tracks. “Your birthday is on Halloween? That’s wild! My birthday is in April. Nothing fun ever happens in April. I bet you have the coolest parties.”

Frank takes a few more licks from his ice cream before responding. “Yeah, it’s pretty fun. I get to dress up and my mom lets me eat all the candy I want. Sometimes we’ll carve a birthday pumpkin and I’ll blow the candle inside the pumpkin out instead of a cake and that’s cool. I don’t really have that many friends to have a party though.” 

He looks a bit sad at that, like he’s running through all his lonely birthdays in his head. Gerard decides he doesn’t like it when Frank looks sad. 

“Hey, but now you have me! I’ll come to your birthday party. I’ll bring balloons and scary movies. I can do really good special effects makeup, too, if you want. I’ll even bring Mikey and Kelly and my friend Ray. You’ll like them all, they’re chill people.” He says, trying to cheer Frank up.

“Ray?” Frank asks, “Ray Toro?” Gerard nods. His smile is glowing once more, which is just how Gerard likes it. “I used to take lessons from him. He taught me how to play guitar. Ray is a badass.”

Gerard agrees. “Toro is probably the coolest person I know. But, I didn’t know you played any instruments. I bet you’re really good at it.”

Frank flushes pink once more and shakes his head. He’s okay at guitar, but he mostly plays it because it feels right under his fingers, the music reverberating through his chest and into his head. He doesn’t know if he could play in front of someone else, especially Gerard. He’d probably get nervous and fuck up all the chords. Even so, Gerard would probably gush about how great he sounded.

“I’m okay. I just love music, so I like playing it. You’re probably a better artist than I am a guitarist.”

Gerard doubts it. Gerard’s art is pretty lazy and unoriginal in his opinion. He looks at his stuff and can see a million different things he wants to change. Frank, though, he looks like the kind of person who would try something and be instantly great at it. 

“You’ll have to let me be the judge of that and play for me sometime.” Gerard offers. “I love music, too. Ray and Mikey and I fuck around sometimes. We have little mini jam sessions, just playing stuff we like. Like the Pumpkins and the Misfits and stuff like that. Mikey and I are horrible. I guarantee you’re better that us. We just like having fun, though.” 

Frank isn’t sure why, but he feels the need to impress Gerard, like he wants to show him that he’s good at stuff, too, before Gerard changes his mind about being Frank’s friend when he realizes he’s so ordinary.

“Yeah, that sounds like it would be cool. To just hang out and jam.” Frank can think of at least five songs he would want to play for him. Some Bouncing Souls and maybe even a classic from Guns N Roses if he could manage it. He could learn Every Rose Has It’s Thorn. Oh, Gerard would be so wooed.

“Well, you’re welcome anytime. It’s an open invitation.” 

Frank nods, tummy filling with butterflies at the thought. “I’ll remember that.”

Eventually, Gerard stops in front of a quaint yellow house and points at it. “Well, this is me.” He says, not making a move to walk inside. “I had a really good time. I liked hanging out with you. We have a lot in common.”

“Yeah. I’m glad I ended up going to the meeting. I almost chickened out. But, I’m happy I didn’t. I’m happy I met you.”

“Me too. It’s not always scary, you know, being gay. It’s baby steps. It gets better, you’ll be happier when you let yourself be you.”

Gerard notices Frank has a stray glob of chocolate on his face from the ice cream. Not thinking, he reaches forward and brushes his thumb over his cheek to wipe it off. Frank stares into him, eyes wide and hopeful, almost begging Gerard to make a move, to say something. A lock of Frank’s bangs not held back by the pink barrette falls over his face, hiding his eyes. Slowly, he moves his hand to tuck the soft strands behind his ear. The scene is too quiet, too tense. The sun is falling beneath the horizon and shading the sky in beautiful pinks and oranges like in the movies. It leaves a glow on Frank’s skin and he looks innocent and ethereal standing in front of Gerard, eyes searching Gerard’s face for a sign, an invitation, anything.

Gerard gives him something and hopes it was what he was looking for.

“Is it okay if I kiss you?” Gerard asks, hand still hovering by Frank’s ear.

Frank is rendered speechless, the blush creeping further over his cheeks like the sunset behind him. All he can do is nod before he begs Gerard to finally put his lips on his own.

Gerard lets his hand cup Frank’s jaw and pull him up and forward slightly. While Frank lets his eyes flutter shut, Gerard leans forward to meet in the middle. Where their lips meet, an explosion of butterflies. The butterflies burst out from their chests and leave their skin feeling warm and tingly. Gerard’s lips are chapped against Frank’s soft ones, but they’re warm and inviting. The kiss is sweet and mellow like hot cocoa in the middle of winter or fuzzy socks and a plush blanket straight from the dryer. Neither of them attempt to deepen it, instead just letting themselves be close physically and emotionally for a few seconds. Mind occupied with thoughts of nothing but the other. It feels good. It feels safe. It feels right.

When they part, Gerard awkwardly pulls his hand back to scratch at his head, all gumby limbs and no idea where to put them. Frank raises his fingertips to his lips, touching them with the pads of his fingers, like he’s still trying to process whether it happened or not. The wide, almost vulnerable smile Frank gives him has his heart flipping in his chest. Frank is one of the most beautiful people he’s ever seen and he kissed Gerard, wanted him to kiss him. It’s hard for him to believe.

“Thank you.” Gerard says earnestly. 

Frank giggles. His smile is warm and radiant, like the setting summer sun. Gerard can't look away. “What do you mean?” There’s less nervous energy about him now, just calm.

“It’s embarrassing, but that was my first kiss.” Gerard admits. “I’m not exactly popular or attractive. I don’t have people lining up trying to kiss me.” 

Frank shakes his head, like that was the dumbest thing he’s ever heard. “You’re beautiful! And handsome. And you were nice to me! I’m short and weird and a freshman. No one is nice to me. You have red hair and you like zombie movies and you’re friends with Ray. You make art. All the comics on my shelf, Batman and Watchmen and Transmetropolitan, you _make_ those. That’s so rad. Of course I want to kiss you. You’re the coolest person I know.”

It takes all of Gerard’s strength to not just dive right in and kiss him again.

“Do you want my number? In case you’re ever bored or you want to talk about comics and stuff.” _Or you want to hang out with me and kiss some more_ , Gerard thinks but doesn’t add.

Frank immediately agrees and hands him a sharpie. Gerard takes it and carefully writes out the number to the Way landline on Frank’s arm. 

It’s uncomfortable for a second. Frank knows he should be getting home before his mother worries and Gerard knows he’s been standing on his own sidewalk a little too long. Neither of them want to say goodbye to each other, both eager to explore this soft connection between them. But, it’s getting late and they have places to be.

“So, I guess I’ll see you at school, then?” Frank asks hopefully.

“Definitely. Yeah. Can’t wait.” Gerard clumsily puts a hand up to wave goodbye before stumbling over some rocks and cracks in the path to his porch. Frank stays there, watching him until he gets inside and shuts the door behind him. He touches his lips with his fingers once more, still feeling the electric energy lingering there. He gives himself a tiny fist pump at that. He got the cute guy to kiss him and it was everything he hoped it would be.

Later, Frank sits on his bed, trying and failing to concentrate on his algebra homework. It’s been maybe an hour since he got home but all he can think about is Gerard. How he was so modest about his talent. How he was happy to make Frank feel welcome. How his lips felt soft and aligned perfectly with his own. Frank just wants to kiss him again, maybe hold his hand and cuddle up with him on the couch.

He looks down at the equations and sees that he’s completed a total of two problems. He’s not going to be able to do any more until he gets Gerard off his mind for the night. He turns to the phone on his bedside table and dials the number Gerard scrawled on his forearm.

The line rings for a bit longer than Frank would’ve liked and he even lets himself get worried. Like, maybe Gerard was just being nice giving him his number and didn’t actually want Frank to call him. His fears are squashed when Gerard picks up with an anxious, “Hello?”

“Hi. This is Frank. I just wanted to let you know I had a really good time today. It was fun. I liked hanging out with you. I was just wondering something.” Frank twirls the phone cord around his fingers as he rambles.

“Yeah?”

“Well, I was wondering if that was a date?” He tries not to sound like he’s pining too hard as he asks. 

Gerard’s voice is soft and unsure as he replies, “Did you want it to be?”

Frank nods quickly before realizing that Gerard can’t see him. “Yeah. I do. I was even hoping you might want to go on another one? A more official one.”

Frank hears Gerard’s sigh of relief after Frank finishes and he suspects that maybe they’re both feeling the same way. 

“Yeah, I’d really like that. The theater is starting their fall horror movie marathon on Saturday, if you wanted to check that out. I thought it looked cool.”

Frank is absolutely giddy from head to toe. “That sounds perfect.”

“Find me at lunch tomorrow.” Gerard suggests. “I’ll introduce you to Mikey and his friends. Ray sits with us, too. We’re not that lame, I swear.”

“No, no, it’s cool. I’m lame, too. But, in all the best ways.” Frank’s cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling.

“So, I’ll see you then?” There’s an optimistic tilt in Gerard’s voice that convinces Frank that Gerard wants to see him just as much as Frank does. Frank feels so lucky.

“Yeah, see you tomorrow.” Frank agrees, wishing it was then already. Too many hours in the day.

“Bye.” But, before either of them hangs up, Gerard babbles out one last statement. “Also, you should wear that barrette in your hair again. It looks quite lovely on you. Bye.”

After Frank hangs up the phone, he has to take a second. He went on a date with _Gerard Way_. And he’s going on another one soon. A boy just called him _lovely_. A boy who he's dating. He has a _boyfriend_ that he’ll get to kiss and hug and talk to before he goes to sleep at night.

He flails on his bed with pure joy, unable to contain the smile on his face. Things were already looking up.

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by that picture of Frank with a barrette from his high school yearbook that was floating around twitter. It was too cute for words, so obviously I had to write it.
> 
> Also, this work is dedicated to *blows kiss to the sky* twitter user frnksblcks, because I promised I would.


End file.
